When I was a kid, Mr. Pepino next door had a Japanese Pachinko game in his rec. room. Call me simple-minded or easily amused, I have no idea why launching those pinballs and them watching slalom down past the brads had an effect on me, but it did. All these years later, I still remember it.
Well I decided, enough reminiscing, I’m buying one for the bar. I know the novelty will wear off quickly once I have one, but [Veruca Salt]I want it now! And if I don’t get it, I’ll scream![/Veruca Salt].
After poking around e-Bay I found, what appears to be, a reputable Pachinko Machine Dealer on the net DBA slotsdirect.com.
Couple questions to Japanese Dopers or anyone else who knows anything about Pachinko.
-
Did the machines in the late 70’s, early 80’s have a slot machine reel in the middle? Unless I’m mistaken, my friends’ dad’s machine had flashing lights…not lemons, bells and 7’s.
-
I want to wall mount this thing, how much would you estimate it weighs? (kgs or lbs)
-
I want the flashiest, most dazzling one available. Which one have you played that was most memorable? I can’t really tell much from slots.com but The Gladiator #585 Black & Red or The Big Slot M-499 Silver and Blue look kinda cool. Does this dealer’s selection look decent to you, or are they selling all the boring, crappy ones here in the States because no one likes them in Japan?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
‚_‚È‚½‚ÉŠ´ŽÓ‚µ‚È‚³‚¢ (Thanks)
Pachisuro, or pachinko-slot machines, seem to be a pretty recent trend. I don’t remember seing them when I arrived here in the mid-90’s, but now they seem to be a standard feature on every machine (I don’t play, but the parlors are everywhere and they all put out posters advertising their latest machines).
As for the weight, I tried looking around some of the maker’s sites, but couldn’t find any info. When I’ve seen the new machines being delivered, it looks like a single unit can be carried with effort by one person, but there may be a lot of extra doo-dads in there. They look a little bulky for wall mounting, though.
As for finding something flashy, there’s also this site:
http://www.slot-pachinko.com/index.html
have fun!
Ex ‘pachinka’ (pachinko pro) checking in. Fortunately I kicked the habit a few years ago (too expensive - you have to spend a couple of hundred dollars a pop if you want any real chance of winning, and too damm noisy in the pachinko parlors). The majority of the machines around today have a video version of the slot machine real in the middle - i.e., just small video screens displaying ‘spinning’ reels. Some of the older machines still have the actual mechanical reels.
Don’t know which is the flashiest most dazzling one, because they come out with new models every week (it seems), and there’s a weekly TV show late at (wed?) night here which introduces the new machines. In any case, they are all about the same on the flashyness scale. I think an incoming missile alert system would suffer a major inferiority complex around the whistles and bells of your standard pachinko machine.
They are all themed, such as baseball, sea life, anime characters, horse races, Japanese festivals etc, so I would recommend picking a theme that’s fun for you, rather than the loudest and brightest (just my opinion).
As to its weight - I have no idea, but I guess it would be much much heavier than a pinball machine simply because it contains all the steel balls, which weigh a ton.
I’m going to google a bit and see if I can find some specifications which show the exact weight of a machine.
I had one from the late 1970’s - early 1980’s and it had bells and lights and the ball slots that opened and closed randomly. No slot machine-like reels. I regret getting rid of my pachinko machine.
Hiya sublight! - good to see you haven’t been deported. Not to nitpick or anything:D , but the OP seems to be about pachinko, not pachislo. Pachinko has the steel balls that cascade down the face of the machine, and which you try to guide through the small aperture at the center which in turn starts the slot machine reels spinning. Pachislo, on the other hand operates by inserting a token which starts the reels spinning and you can then manually stop them spinning by hitting a button at the appropriate time. A good friend of mine is so skilled at this he can get 7 7 7 with uncanny regularity.
My pachinko machine weighs about 60 pounds, according to the bathroom scale. Similar to this machine:
http://www.pachinko.dreamhost.com/lupinthird802.html
I’d suggest that if you’re handy with wires and such installing a volume control. My neighbors have already thanked me.
cankerist: that would be my ignorance of the game shining through. I thought pachislo was just pachinko with the little spinning wheels (or video versions of them) in the center. I didn’t realize it was a whole 'nother game.
As for being deported, well… I going to visa office next week, so there’s still time for my Location: line to read, ‘from inside a packing crate at Narita airport’. 
A couple of guys in my dorm had one in the mid-70s. No slot machine parts and, of course, no video back then. Just loys of pins and “flower petal” arms. I never got into it – no flippers, no replays, and the game was over way too quick. But there were guys who could play until they had emptied the machine of balls.
That’s the sort of one my BiL picked up at a garage sale during my last visit down there.
Who woulda thunk it. On an English speaking board in a forum where threads come and go with great regularity and still got 8 replies. Thanks for all the input & help.
Extra Special Thanks go to:
Sublight: For the link. How did you know an R-Rated machine would be right up my alley?!?
cankerist: Whose past obsession led to a google search & whose knowledge help clear up the age old Pachinko vs Pachislo debate.
Nekosoft: For going way beyond the call of duty by actually putting their Lupin Pachinko machine on a bathroom scale. I had this nightmare vision of your machine tipping and 100s of tiny chrome balls spilling out all over the floor.
Heartfelt thanks once again!